Walters lift Tribe, but can’t complete DH sweep

August 14, 2014

CLEVELAND - The Indians didn't generate a lot of attention when they acquired Zach Walters at the trade deadline.

Walters made a headline of his own Wednesday with a one-out homer in the ninth inning to give Cleveland a 3-2 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks in the first game of a doubleheader.

Walters, acquired from Washington for Asdrubal Cabrera on July 31, hit a 1-2 pitch from Randall Delgado (1-3) that narrowly cleared the wall in right field.

Article Photos

Associated PressTRIBE?TOWN — Indians outfielder Zach Walters celebrates with teammates after hitting a walk-off in Game 1 of a doubleheader on Wednesday.

Walters was sent to Triple-A Columbus following the trade. The left-handed hitter was called up Sunday when outfielder David Murphy and designated hitter Nick Swisher went on the disabled list with injuries. The home run was the fourth of his career.

"He's hit a couple balls right on the nose," Indians manager Terry Francona said. "On a day that it was probably going to take a home run to win it, it was good to see him do it. I'm sure that will help him relax."

Cody Allen (4-2) worked around a two-out walk in the ninth.

Trevor Bauer, pitching against the team that took him with the third pick of the 2011 draft, allowed two runs and struck out nine in a career-high eight innings.

Bauer didn't allow a hit until the sixth when Arizona scored to break a scoreless tie. Michael Brantley's two-run single put Cleveland ahead in the bottom of the inning, but the Diamondbacks tied the game in the seventh on Aaron Hill's RBI groundout.

Bauer faced the minimum 15 batters through five innings before running into problems in the sixth. Jake Lamb drew a leadoff walk before Xavier Paul lined a clean single to right, putting runners on first and third. Lamb scored when Jordan Pacheco hit into a double play.

Bauer clashed with both Arizona management and teammates, leading to a short tenure with the Diamondbacks. The right-hander was 1-2 with a 6.06 ERA in four starts for Arizona in 2012 and was traded to the Indians in December.

"That was two years ago," Bauer said. "I've long since moved on. They are just another team, nine more hitters I've got to try to get out. There is no bad blood between them and me."

Vidal Nuno retired the first eight hitters, striking out five, before Tyler Holt recorded his first major league hit, a two-out single in the third.

Nuno allowed two runs in 5 2-3 innings.

Tuffy Gosewisch's RBI single with one out in the 12th inning gave the Arizona Diamondbacks a 1-0 win over the Cleveland Indians on Wednesday night to earn a split of a doubleheader.

Five Arizona pitchers combined on the shutout as the Diamondbacks avoided a sweep after Zach Walters' walkoff homer in the ninth gave the Indians a 3-2 win in the opener.

Randall Delgado (2-3), the losing pitcher in the first game, pitched the 11th. Addison Reed gave up pinch-hitter Lonnie Chisenhall's two-out double in the 12th, but struck out Jason Kipnis for his 28th save to end the 4-hour, 16-minute game.

Alfredo Marte drew a leadoff walk from C.C. Lee (0-1) to start the winning rally. After a sacrifice, Gosewisch singled up the middle for the game's only run.

Arizona loaded the bases with two outs in the eighth, but Miguel Montero grounded out to end the inning. The Diamondbacks stranded 11 runners on while the Indians left 10.

Michael Brantley started the 11th with a double, but Delgado struck out Carlos Santana and Chris Dickerson and retired Walters on a groundout.

Josh Tomlin pitched 5 1-3 innings while Andrew Chafin threw five innings in his major league debut. Both made spot starts after Tuesday's game was postponed by rain.

Tomlin retired the first nine hitters before Ender Inciarte led off the fourth with an infield hit. Center fielder Tyler Holt made a diving catch of David Peralta's liner to help Tomlin get out of the inning.

Tomlin, 0-3 in his previous five starts since throwing a one-hit shutout at Seattle on June 28, was pulled with a runner on second and one out in the sixth. Peralta's drive to right looked to be good for extra bases, but Ryan Raburn made a diving catch on the warning track after a long run.

Chafin, an Ohio native who pitched at Kent State, was called up on Aug. 8. He attended high school about 50 miles from Cleveland, and had more than 60 family members and friends at Progressive Field.

Walters, acquired from Washington for Asdrubal Cabrera on July 31, hit a 1-2 pitch from Delgado that narrowly cleared the wall in right field to win the opener. The home run was the fourth of his career.

"He's hit a couple balls right on the nose," Indians manager Terry Francona said. "On a day that it was probably going to take a home run to win it, it was good to see him do it. I'm sure that will help him relax."

Cody Allen (4-2) pitched the ninth for Cleveland to get the win.

Trevor Bauer, pitching against the team that took him with the third pick of the 2011 draft, allowed two runs and struck out nine in a career-high eight innings.

Bauer faced the minimum 15 batters through five innings before running into trouble in the sixth. Jake Lamb drew a leadoff walk before Xavier Paul lined a clean single to right, putting runners on first and third. Lamb scored when Jordan Pacheco hit into a double play.

Michael Brantley's two-run single put Cleveland ahead in the bottom of the inning, but the Diamondbacks tied the game in the seventh on Aaron Hill's RBI groundout.